gundamonrobloxfandomcom-20200214-history
Nick De Leon gubernatorial campaign, 2018
The 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign of Nick De Leon was informally announced via Facebook on November 10, 2017. De Leon is running as a Democrat to participate in debates and to get his name on Wisconsin county ballots. If elected, De Leon will be 22 years old on the days of the general election and inauguration, which would make him the youngest Governor to take office and surpassing the previous record by Leonard J. Farwell who was inaugurated at age 33, the first U.S. Governor to be born in the 1990s, Wisconsin's first Jewish Governor, first openly-gay U.S. Governor, first Native American U.S. Governor, and the first Green Bay native to hold the office. Background Nick De Leon has been an active member of the Democratic Party of Brown County in Wisconsin since 2015. In the years prior he identified as a Republican prior to 2014 and then no party affiliation from early March 2014 until possibly July 2015. Much of De Leon's adult life has been centered around community activism for LGBT rights in his hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin, particularly establishing an LGBT affirming Christian ministry that he leads. De Leon never ran before for public office, however a now unpublished Facebook page from 2016 suggests that he intended to run for District 5 of the Brown County Board of Supervisors in 2018. History Announcement De Leon informally declared his candidacy via Instagram on November 10, 2017. In his post he immediately criticised the Republican Party of Wisconsin for being inactive and blaming Governor Scott Walker for favoring feudalism and corporate interests. De Leon further writes: "I will let all who see this know loudly and clearly. If anyone is going to use "forward" as a campaign slogan, it's not Scott Walker, but will be me who will use it. I'm officially running for Governor of Wisconsin." Early campaign One day after De Leon's announcement his campaign created their Facebook page and introduced it with posts regarding De Leon's criticism of Scott Walker's support of Foxconn contributing to state job growth, a Veteran's Day photo of his childhood self being taught to ride a bike by his father and a post showing his support to lower the drinking age in the state from 21 to 19 years. More work was done to organize his campaign with the introduction of his official campaign logo and publishing of his campaign platform. On November 26 his campaign store was opened on Zazzle featuring most usual campaign merchandise with prices lower than that of his Republican opponent, Scott Walker's campaign store. The price difference is shown even further when De Leon's campaign placed merchandise between 25-60% off compared to Walker's 20% on Cyber Monday which De Leon frequency mentioned on social media that day. According to the Candidate Tracking by Office list regularly updated by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, De Leon has filed his Campaign Registration Statement on November 29, 2017. His Statement of Economic Interests was also filed on December 11th and he is the the first candidate to do so. On January 2, 2018, De Leon's Declaration of Candidacy was filed with the WEC. Campaign Polling Nick De Leon has yet to appear in any polling. A January 10th poll by Public Policy Polling for the Democratic primary did not place De Leon among the top nine major candidates for Governor, however the survey suggests that 28% of Democrats were undecided on their choice for a Democratic candidate and that 12% prefer a candidate that is a resident from outside the cities of Madison and Milwaukee. De Leon is a resident of the City of Green Bay. Forums It is not known whether Nick De Leon has appeared in any gubernatorial forum. The Democratic Party of Outagamie County denied De Leon's request to appear in a forum organized by the party on January 17, 2018. Media coverage Early signs of media coverage for De Leon's campaign began on December 20, 2017 with a showcase article by the Wisconsin State Journal. Political positions De Leon is a social democrat and a progressive that is a member of the Democratic Party. Crime Gun violence De Leon supports closing the gun show loophole by requiring private dealers to perform background checks and checking with consumers if they have proper permits to own specific grades of guns. He also believes in a permit-to-purchase policy for state consumers to purchase guns, making comprehensive background checks while at the same time avoiding infringement on the rights of a gun owner. De Leon did previously support banning the sale of the Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle following the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 and some firearm attachments after the Las Vegas shooting in October 2017, but it is currently unknown if his positions have changed regarding these sales bans in the campaign. De Leon believes in reversing a November 2017 bill that eliminated the minimum hunters age, which previously was set to 12 years of age in 2009, criticizing the National Rifle Association, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and incumbent Governor Scott Walker for being incompent. Economic issues Income inequality De Leon's campaign intends to fight the decreasing income of the middle and lower-classes. One De Leon's campaign promises include increasing the state's minimum wage above the federal minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour. Taxes De Leon supports raising taxes on state capital gains and and the upper-class. Some of the added revenues will be used to lower for middle and lower-classes. Jobs In early social media posts, De Leon criticized Scott Walker's approval of Foxconn making jobs in the state because it wouldn't benefit working-class Wisconsinites. De Leon promotes the creation of thousands of jobs by investing in infrastructure, particularly in the areas of maintenance of state roads, highways, bridges, and hydroelectric dams. He also supports legislation to make it easier for workers to join or form unions. Healthcare De Leon is a strong supporter of a universal healthcare system and intends to expand BadgerCare+. Social issues Racial justice De Leon supports racial justice for racial minorities, particularly for African Americans living in Wisconsin. His campaign cites that the incarceration rate for African Americans is almost twice the national average at 13% and that racial profiling has been a chronic issue in Milwaukee. De Leon since 2016 has supported Black Lives Matter. LGBT Rights De Leon is an openly-gay man and is the Head Pastor of De Leon LGBT Christian Ministries, an LGBT affirming religious organization he founded in 2015. In August 7, 2014, De Leon signed Wisconsin Unites for Marriage, a coalition for same-sex marriage in the state of Wisconsin. On October 22, 2014, De Leon joined the UW-Green Bay's SAGA, a Gay-Straight Alliance. On May 9, 2015 De Leon signed political consultant, Carol Dahmen's petition to bar Matthew G. McLaughlin from being the Attorney General of Orange County, California and practicing law in the state. De Leon signed it in response to McLaughlin's controversial Sodomite Suppression Act which states that if someone's to commit to homosexual acts, the person is to be lethally executed. Since the establishment of De Leon LGBT Christian Ministries, he had built connections with various local LGBT organizations and businesses in Green Bay, Wisconsin including the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. In March 24, 2016, De Leon advised North Carolina governor Pat McCrory to reconsider his decision the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (House Bill 2) which he signed into law the day before. The bill eliminates anti-discrimination protections for LGBT and genderqueer people, and legislates that individuals may only use restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates. De Leon warned McCrory of a potential "horrific mess" that was to impact the state and to not place himself on the wrong side of history. McCrory refused to listen to De Leon and the state of North Carolina faced a $500,000 loss in the state's Disaster Relief Fund and a 0.1% state GDP loss. McCrory was defeated by State Attorney General Roy Cooper by a margin of 10,257 votes in the state's 2016 Gubernatorial election. As part of his 2018 campaign, De Leon places a greater emphasis on legislating for additional protections for transgender people, especially in the areas of jobs, housing, adoption, and the ability for one to legally change one's gender, including nonbinary identities without the requirement of sex reassignment surgery. Endorsements De Leon has made endorsements to various candidates running in the 2018 elections throughout the United States. So far De Leon has endorsed U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin who is seeking re-election, ironworker Randy Bryce for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district in the House of Representatives and Kevin de León (not related to Nick De Leon) for the Democratic primary in the U.S. Senate race in California. Gallery De Leon for Wisco logo.png|Campaign logo De Leon for Wisco (blue).png|Logo on blue background De Leon for Wisco square logo.png|De Leon for Wisco logo External links * Nick De Leon - Ballotpedia * Nick De Leon for Governor - Facebook References